At the end,
My very end,
Let my heart cry, “Mercy”.
Merit fails me,
As humanity touches all.
Yet Mercy beckons,
“Come be holy.”
“Be holy as I am holy.”
How but by grace?
I lie my life at the feet of Mercy.
My life bears the mark of my humanity.
I cry to Him who is Mercy.
My humanity begs divinity.
Trusting Your strong right Hand,
I call “mercy”.
I trust to Love.
My Jesus, “Mercy!”
By Joann Nelander
LORD OF THE TRUSTING
Lord of the Fallen,
Fallen from grace,
Fallen in misfortune,
Lord of the Forsaken,
Forsaken in favor,
Forsaken in worldly esteem,
Spread the corner of Your mantle over me.
Like a great bird,
Cover me with mighty wing,
Cloak me with warmth and security,
Like the eagle with its young
Castle me on high,
Feed me with morsels from your mouth.
Feather me in your splendid pinions.
Lord of the Trusting,
Trusting in You,
Trusting the Trinity,
Lord of the Meek,
Lord, meek and humble,
Meek and gentle of heart,
Make my heart like unto Thine own.
Joann Nelander
Lord of the centuries,
Knit, of our pain, the knots,
That mysteriously arrange themselves
Across our days.
Guide, by unseen fingers,
Each little pearl,
To form a cloth
Alive with Your Golden threads,
Infinitely more than happenstance or tragedy.
Each strand of Time a mystery,
Bathed in trial and tears,
Yet rich in Awe,
Resplendent in Beauty,
And the gracious beneficence
Of sacrificial love.
Whole cloth,
Woven into a seamless robe,
You don in majesty,
Humble and meek in triumph o’er our graves,
As Life welcomes to the Banquet,
Our souls, now clad in bodies,
One with Your Own.
© 2015 Joann Nelander
Lord, you pass by.
A sea of hands reaches for You.
Straining to its end,
Determined, one hand, truly, seems all Heart.
You pass, seeming out of reach.
From Heaven the Father sees,
And satisfies the soul’s desire.
“Who touched me?”, says the Son.
© 2017 Joann Nelander
Be Holy! 